Multilaterally stretchable creped paper product



Feb. 23, 1937. w, c, KEMP 2,071,347

MULTILATERAL-LY STRETCHABLE CREPED PAPER PRODUCT Filed Aug. 24, 1951 4Sheets-Sheet l A TTORNEYS Feb. 23, 1937. w, c, KE'MP v 2,071,347

MULTILATERALLY STRETCHAB LE CREPED PAPER PRODUCT Filed Aug. 24, 1931.

" 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 (mag I I I J N A TTORNEY."

Feb. 23, 1937.

w, c. KEMP MULTILATERALLY STRETCHABLE CREPED PAPER PRODUCT Filed Aug.24, 1931 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR.

ATTORNEYS W. C. KEMP Feb. '23, 1937.

I MULTILATERALLY STRETCHABLE CREPED PAPER PRODUCT 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Aug. 24 195i INVENTOR.

BY ATTORNEYS Patented Feb. 23, 1937 UNITED STATES- PATENT OFFICEMULTILATERAILY STRETCHABLE (.JREPED PAPER PRODUCT William C. Keinp,Cincinnati, Ohio, assignor to The Paper Service Company, Lockland, Ohio,

a corporation of Ohio Application August 24,

21 Claims.

It is well known to crepe paper by running it through a water bath andthen leading it to a creping cylinder into contact with which it ispressed by a pressure or back-up roll. As the right angles to the lengthof the web. The paper will be foreshortened longitudinally and by a likeamount it will be stretchable longitudinally. It will not bestretchabletransversely.

It has been realized that for a number of uses it would be highlydesirable to produce a paper which was stretchable laterally as well aslongitudinally. In circumstances where a multidirectional give to theweb is required, this give is imperfectly realized in crepe paper.Proposals have been made looking toward the production of paper which iscreped so as to have a longitudinal stretchability and is also formedwith corrugations or other configurations designed to imparta lateralgive. It has not generally been found possible to put into paper in thisway, an amount of lateral stretch comparable to the longitudinalstretchability thereof, unless the eifective finished thickness of theweb be greatly increased, because while the crinkles produced in theordinary creping process, are sufficiently minute so as not to producean unduly thick web, the corrugations employed in connection therewithusually warp the web out of'its general plane, and produce a resultwhich has a much greater effective thickness,and obviously a surfacewhich is a great deal less smooth. Consequently, creped and corrugatedfabrics are not as suitable for joining to other fabrics or bodymaterials as are plain creped papers.

The primary object of my invention is the provision of a web which iscreped or crinkled as distinguished from corrugated, and in which amulti-lateral stretchability may be realized to the extent desired. Itis also my object to provide a web in which the distinct directionalgrain of former webs is not apparent, and which has a leather-liketexture. Still another object of my invention is the provision of acontrolled multilateral stretchability in webs whereby said webs havepeculiar advantages when joined to backing or body materials as willhereinafter be set forth.

Ina co-pending application entitled The art of producing multi-lateralstretchability in paper'webs or the like, Serial No. 626,059 filed Julyv creping corrugations of different angularity with 29, 1932 and SerialNo. 720,256, flied April 12,

1934, I have claimed process and apparatus as 1931, Serial No. 558,884(01. 154-55) described herein suitable for the manufacture of i theproduct of this case.

These and other objects which will be set forth hereinafter, or will beapparent to one skilled in the art, upon reading these specifications, Iaccomplish by that certain construction and arrangement of parts in myapparatus and product;

and in that process of which I'shall hereinafter describe exemplaryembodiments, reference being had to the drawings which form a parthereof, and in which:-

Figure 1 is a plan view of an apparatus suitable for the practice of myinvention, and Fig. 2 is an elevation thereof.

Figure 3 is an elevation of the first creping roll of my device takenalong the lines A-A of Fig. 2.

Fig.9 is a plan view of a creping device embodying different supportingmeans for the diagonal knife, and Fig. 10 is an elevation thereof.

Fig. 11 is an elevation of still another supporting means.

Fig. 12 is a plan view, and Fig. 13 an elevation of a creping deviceemploying a bent knife.

Figs. 14 and 15 arerespectively, plan and ele vational views of the samemechanism showing supportingmeans for the bent knife.

Fig. 16 is a partial sectional view showing the relationship of the rolland bent knife at any particular point.

Briefly, in the practice of my invention, I employ upon a desired web, aplurality of creping or Fig.- 4 is an elevation of the second crepingroll crinkling operations, the net result of which is to v produce aplurality of sets of crinkles, which sets are non-coincident, and havedifferent directions of primary stretchability, whereby a multi-lateralstretchability in the web is produced. I do this during the continuoustravel of the web, and

without cutting or reversing it; and therefore, since; it is notpossibleto crepe a web by the methods applicable to my invention, in a directionexactly parallel to its direction of. travel, and since'I desire' tohave my different sets-of respect to the length of the paper web, animportant feature of my invention is that one or more of the crepingoperations which I perform upon my web, result in the production ofcrinkles which are not at right angles to the direction of travel of theweb. In the preferred practise of my invention, wherein with two crepingoperations, I can gain a maximum multi-lateral stretchability, I firstcrepe the paper in one operation, forming crinkles therein lyingsubstantially at 45 degrees to the longitudinal axis of the paper, and Inext subject the paper to a second creping operation, also producingcrinkles lying at an angle of 45 degrees to the axis of the web, but inthe opposite direction, whereby the two sets of crinkles cross eachother at substantially right angles. In this. way, with two crepingoperations. I can secure a controlled stretchability which is trulymulti-lateral, and which, although actually it has two directions ofprimary stretchability, is for all practical purposes substantiallyequally stretchable in all directions. It will be understood that thecreping knife may lie at a greater or less angle than 45 degrees ifdesired.

My invention is not restricted to any particular creping operation. Thetype of creping operation per se which I prefer to use, however, is acreping operation in which the paper or other web is caused to adhere tothecreping cylinder or other surface, by means oi the positive adhesiveaction of a thermoplastic substance. In other words, I prefer to employin the practice of my invention, the invention of William Wallace Rowe,as set forth in Reissue Patent No. 17,633, dated April 1, 1930; but I amnot restricted to this. I prefer it because of several factors of someimportance, among which are the character of crinkles which it produces,and the positive nature of the adhesion between the web and the crepingmeans, which becomes of particular importance at the second creping orsubsequent crepings.

I have illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, a creping cylinder I, upon thesurface of which a film of bitumen or other heat plastic adhesivesubstance may be formed by means of transfer rolls 2, the outer one ofwhich turns in a pan 3 of the said thermo-plastic adhesive. A web ofpaper or the like 4, is led into contact with the film of adhesivesubstance upon the surface of the cylinder I, so as to adhere theretoand be bound thereby to the surface of the cylinder, or the paper may becoated directly with the adhesive before being led to the cylinder. Itmay be pressed thereagainst by a pressure or back-up roll 5. The web isremoved from the surface of the cylinder I continuously, by a knife orcreping doctor 6. This doctor is set at an angle to the axis of theroll. Its characteristics and functions will be more fully describedhereinafter. It is sufficient at this point to indicate that due to itsangular relationship to the axis of the roll, and likewise to thedirection .of travel of the web, it produces crinkles or corrugations inthe web, which are at an angle to the major axisof said web, and in theembodiment shown, are substantially at an angle of 45 degrees thereto.The web as it leaves the cylinder I, is indicated at In, and ischaracterized by slanting or diagonal crinkles I.-

The web is next led to a second creping cylinder 8. Because the web asit is scraped from the surface of the roll I by the diagonal doctor 6,and as it is removed in a direction substantially parallel with theplane of the knife, will be slightly displaced and will be tilted withrespect to the horizontal,.approximately to an angle of 45 degreeaitwill be found advantageous to tilt the second creping cylinder 8 at suchan angle that it may directly receive the paper web 4a. This is notunavoidable since by means of rolls or otherwise, it will be possible totilt the web do back to the horizontal; but the tilting of the roll 8 asshown, may be resorted to when it is not desired to contact the faces ofthe web 4a with any instrumentalities between the two crepingoperations. A film of asphalt or other heat plastic substances maylikewise be formed upon the sur face of the cylinder 8, by means oftransfer rolls 9, but if these rolls follow the roll 8. their axes willalso be tilted substantially 45 degrees to the horizontal. Hence, adifferent arrangement must be provided than in the case of the roll 2,and in this instance, I deliver my bituminous or other adhesive to thehigher end of the rolls 9 by means of a pipe II). The heat plastic flowsdown the bite between the two rolls and the drippings are caught in apan I I. The pan II may be provided with a conduit I2 leading to a pumpI3, which forces the asphalt or other adhesive back through the pipeIII. In some instances it may be possible to crepe the paper or otherweb upon the cylinder I, and to remove it therefrom with a resident filmof the adhesive of such thickness as to render it unnecessary separatelyto apply bitumenor the like to the surface of the cylinder 8. In eitherevent, the web may be pressed down upon the surface of the cylinder 8 bymeans of the back-up roll I4, and again removed therefrom by means ofthe creping knife or doctor blade I5. This knife is again set at anangle of approximately 45 degrees to the longitudinal axis of the web,but in an opposite direction to the angularity of the knife 6. Since theroll 8 has its axis at substantially 45 degrees to the horizontal, theknife I5 may lie in a horizontal plane, and the now double creped weblb, may be removed therefrom substantially in the horizontal plane asshown.

In the process described, I have thus creped the paper twice, first in adirection to produce crinkles lying at an angle of 45 degrees to themajor axis of the paper, and again to produce a second set of crinklescrossing the first and 1ying at an angle of 45 degrees to the said axisbut in the opposite direction.

I have not particularly described the action of crinkling the paper, northe details of the creping cylinder, back-up roll and the like. Asindicated, I may employ one or more of a number of different crepingprocesses, Including, of course, but without limitation, the watercreping process; and the several processes which I may employ aresusceptible of those features of control hitherto employed in crepingoperations.

Thus when employing asphalt or other heat plastic substance, as thecreping adhesive, I may temper the film thereof to the requiredconsistency as by controlling the temperature of my rolls I and 8,and/or of the back-up rolls 5 and I5, and the like.

No one has hitherto however, employed with a creping cylinder or othersupporting creping surface any knife or doctor otherwise disposed thanparallel to the axis of said roll or at right angles to the path oftravel of a web on said surface; and the characteristics of non-parallelknives have not hitherto been investigated nor charted. The employmentof such knives involves certain specific problems, a discussion of whichis now in order, particularly as to cylindricat-surfaces. One of theproblems involved is the securing of crinkles, the direction of which inFig. 5, the line of cut upon the said unrolled surface would not be astraight line, but on the contrary, would correspond to thesinusoidalline 16. And if ll be taken as a representation of the paper going overthe cylinder, then it .will be clear that a straight knife; comparableto the slice described, will not produce straight'crinkles extendingdiagonally across the sheet. 'The ideal condition would be to produceaknife which would contact the surface of the cylinder and. consequent-'ly the sheet along the diagonal straight line 18. This condition can beobtained by the employment of an angularly disposed, hollowed out knifecontacting, at its edge, the surface of the cylinder, but curvedslightly at its ends to straighten the line of crepe. Such a knife mightbe'made andwould not fall without the spirit of my'invention; but itwould be expensive and difficult to manufacture, diflicult to mount, anddiflicult to use and repair. By the use of a straight knife, some ofthese disadvantages can be avoided. The same result can also, as setforth hereinafterybe advantageously attained by the use of a bent knife,in effect, wound about the surface of a, cylinder so as to besubstantially helically disposed. V

It will next be noticed upon the diagram of Fig. 5, that changes ofcurvature of the line 16' are most marked near the edges of the diagram.

It is possible to draw two lines l9 and 20, parallel to the edges of thediagram between which lines the deviations of the sinusoidal curve i6,

- cylinder at the desired angle to the axis thereof there-across.

e and" 22.

and hollowed out so as to contact the surface of the cylinder at allpoints throughout the length of the knife, 'I keep the sheet so narrowwith respect to the diameter of the cylinder that I secure substantiallya straight diagonal creping This does not necessarily affect the lengthof the cylinder with reference to the width of the sheet being creped.It does affect, the width of the sheet being creped in its relationshipto the diameter of the cylinder.

In Figure 3, I have indicated the cylinder i in elevation having the webI passing over it and being removed therefrom by the-diagonal knife I.The ends of this knife, if produced would ultimately contact the surfacethereof above and below in a vertical plane passing through the axis ofthe cylinder approximately at the points 2| The width of the paper webshould therefore, bekept narrower' than the horizontal distance betweenpoints 2i and 22, and its optimuiii' width is represented at- 2!, asdetermined by the diagram of Fig. 5." This does not mean,

however, that the paper web 4 need be'narrower' than the cylinder i,since the cylinder I could be shortened so as to be substantially equalto the distance-23, providing its diameter remains the; same. H

It is known that the character of creping which 75 may be accomplishedon any given. machine,

. 3 while affected also by a number of other factors, is dependent inpart upon the characteristicsof the creping knife. The creping knife isregularly not a sharp edged blade, since it isthei object not merely tolift the paper from the surface of the cylinder but to crinkle it in sodoing. There is, therefore, a part to the knife which either contactsthe cylinder or'is approached so closely to it as to engage'the paperproperly, and

then a portion which extends away from the surface of the cylinder at adiflerent angle, so as to form with that surface a Vv shaped notch orgroove, which has a distinct effect upon. the

crinkling. The angularity of this creping V may be controlled with theproduction of desired results.

angle to the axis of the creping roll and which is hollowed out upon oneside as to contact the creping roll at all points throughout its length.It

In my creping apparatus as shown in Figures 1 and 2, I have a straightknife which is set at an' therefore, contacts the surface alonga'complex Y curve. In ordinary creping operations, it is the practice toprovide a knife, the plane of which .lies 2 at an angle, both-to atangential plane at the line of contact between the knife and thecylinder, and to a plane determined by the axis of the cyiinder and aradius thereof, passing throug the said contacting point. If the samepractice of tipping the knife were followed in my instance, while thiswould be within the scope of my invention, and would accomplishthe'objec'ts thereof, the curve of the hollowed out portion of my knifewould be complicated, and under some circumstancesthe strains von theknife mounting would be less uniform. I prefer therefore to keep myknife as is shown both in Figs. 3 and 4, in a position such that a.radius of the cylinder drawn from the axis thereof, to the point wherethe center of the knife touches the cylinder, would lie within the planeof the creping knife- Over the distance of the width 23 of the web 4, inFig. 3, I therefore, se-

eure a relationship of my knife to the surface of my cylinder, such thatwhile the angularitypf the plane of the knife to the cylindrical surfacevaries from point to point, yet for practical purposes and within thelimits set forth, it is perpengreater thediameter of the cylinder withreference to its length, or the width of thepaper being the problemsjust discussed. The narrower the web in its relationto the'diameter ofthe cylinder, the more nearly a straight diagonal crepe is achieved. a

The web 4, as it is creped upon the cylinder I, 65'

receives the. diagonal creping 1. Ittakes up in length. whereby acertain degree of'lengthwise creped thereon, the easier becomes thesolution of stretchability is secured, but also, since the line of,creping I is diagonal, it takesupwidthwise so that a degree of widthwisestretchability is pro,-

' duced in the web. I thus have realized a web which is stretchable bothwidthwise and lengthwise, and for certain purposes, such a web may haveadvantages over a web which isstretchable qlengthwise andscmewhatxstretchable along the idiago'nals butis notstretchable'widthwise at all.

My next step, as illustrated in Fig. 1, is to carry the web 4a, to a newcreping point and produce in it a series of diagonal crinkles extendingin the other direction. The web is again foreshortened lengthwise andtaken up widthwise, and is given stretch in those directions hithertolacking in it. I now have a web which is stretchable in all directionsand which yet is a true creped web and not a corrugated or acreped-and-corrugated web. It is, therefore, relatively thin and -it hasa much higher degree of flexibility than the ordinary creped web. Theordinary creped web, while being highly flexible in a directiontransverse to the creping, is actually stiflened by the crinkles of Withthe creping process in connection with which my preferred embodiment hasbeen described, I

can secure a, fine and velvety character of crepe, which has a moreuniform and more velvety ap- I pearance than ordinary creped paper,because it' lacks the obvious striation produced by the single creping.Depending upon the amount of stretch left in the sheet after thedifferent crepings, the residual stretch in all directions may bereadily controlled. In any event,useful stretchability is realized inall directions. The lines of maximum linear stretchability for eachcreping are of course, lines perpendicular to. the direction of thecrepes produced in the several operations, and in the product 4b of Fig.1, the maximum stretchability will be along lines extending in bothdirections, at an angle of 45 degrees to the major axis of the paper.This particular feature is of unusual importance in the making ofcomposite products. Such products are made by .uniting a creped web toanother web, body, pad, or the like of backing substance. A wide varietyof composite products may be made in this way, to all of which myinvention is adapted. Where, my new creped paper is to be joined to abacking substance of textile fabric, the relationship is produced whichis illustrated in Fig. 8. Here a web of textile material, such forexample, as burlap, is indicated at 24. It has warp and woof threadsrespectively parallel and perpendicular to the edges thereof. Since thewarp and woof threads are relatively inelastic, the stretchability oryielding property in the textile fabric is realized along the diagonal,i. e., the bias, and is produced largely by a variation in theangularity of the warp and woof threads. I now Join a web of my newcreped paper 25 to the textilematerial 24. When the paper has beencreped by means of the thermoplastic adhesive substance, and a residentfilm thereof remains upon the surface of the paper, the uniting may beaccomplished by means of this resident film. It will be noticed however,that when the webs are joined together, the lines of maximumstretchability in the textile fabric will coincide exactly with thelines of the primary stretchability in the creped paper web. The samedirections along the bias of the textile material, and by otherwisestretching and straining it, to disrupt the paper so that sifting of apowdered substance would occur therethrough, by any series of operationswhich I have been able to perform, which operations at the same time,did not break the strands of the burlap.

In Figures 6 and 7, Ihave illustrated a modification ofmy apparatus.Here a web of paper 26 is shown led from a storage roll 21 to a crepingsurface which comprises an endless metallic band 28, passing over rolls29 and 30. A film of bitumen or other thermo-plastic adhesive, (if sucha creping process is to be followed) may be applied to the surface ofthe belt or band 28, by means of pickup rolls 3 I, one of which turns ina pan of adhesive 32, or the bitumen may be applied directly to paper.If a water-creping step be used, the paper will of course be led througha suitable bath. The web 26 will preferably again be pressed intocontact with the creping surface by a back-up roll 33. A support 34-islocated beneath that portion of the belt 28, which lies between the twocylinders, so as to provide means holding the hand against the crepingknife. Where it is desired to control the characteristics of theadhesive, as by temperature control, the supporting member 34 may bemade in the form of a chest'into which steam or water, or other heatingor cooling fluids may be admitted by a pipe 35. A creping knife 38removes the paper web from the surface of the belt 28, at a point wherethe belt is fully supported by the member 34. The knife 36 in thisinstance, is a straight knife contacting a plain surface, and

certain of those problems which are incidental to the employment ofdiagonal knives upon cylinders, do not arise here, as will be obvious.The web 26a. now having been diagonally creped, is lifted away from theknife 36, preferably by an idler roll 31, and is transferred to thesurface of a second belt 38, also passing over cylinders 39 and 40. Thedirection of travel of. the belt 38 will usually be in the samedirection as that of the belt 28, since the web after its removal fromthe belt 28, and its passage beyond the knife 36, is carried back into ahorizontal plane. The canting of the web noted in connection with thedevice of Figures 1 and 2 is due to the combinedefl'ect of the diagonalknife and the fact that the web travels away from the cylinder atapproximately right angles to the tangential Plane at the point ofremoval. The coating of adhesive applied to the first belt 23 may beused to cement the web 26a to the belt 38, or additional thermo-plasticmaterial may be applied to said belt by pick-up rolls 4|, and a pan 42,of the adhesive; The usual back-up, or pressure roll 43, will beemployed with the belt 38, and another supporting member 44 will backthe belt up against the diagonal creping knife 45, from which the idler48 lifts the now completed web 25b,

The diillculties attendant upon the employment of a straight or planeknife hollowed out to conform to the surface of a cylinder at an angleto the axis thereof, may be obviated in great measure 'by the employmentof a knife which follows the curvature of the roll. Such a knife I willrefer to as abent knife, by which I mean that the knife does not lie ina single plane, but instead is curved to conform it bodily to the shapeof the roll along a line which, if projected upon a plane, would be asinusoidal line. A strip of metal, such as steel,

will serve very well for such a knife, and may be bent about the surfaceof a cylinder at substantially 45 degrees (or any other desired angle)to the axisthereof. In the employment of this type members 60. Thehelically disposed knife 55 may ,of creping apparatus, I provide'for usein combination with a cylinder of suitable diameter, a band or strip ofspring steel, say, of .an inch thick and 1 and /2 in. to 2 in. wide.These dimensions are exemplary but not limiting. Thestrip or band may bewound about the surface of a cylinder through whatever arc the desiredangle and the face of the cylinder determine. The effective are aboutwhich the knife passes will vary with these and other factors. Thus if acylinder be chosen with a face equal to its diameter, and the knife bedisposed at what has been termed a 45 degree angle, then the tangentialpoints at which the knife leaves the surface of the cylinder in crossingits face will be situated about 115- apart. If the cylinder is shorterthan its diameter, or if the angle of the knife be varied, theinterspacing of these points will likewise vary. The knife or blade maybe visualized as leaving the face of the cylinder tangentially, and willbe held atits ends. It is preferred to anchor the forward end of thebelt and to tension the rearward end of the belt by means of a spring,turnbuckle, or the like.

Certain advantages are inherent in this form of construction in additionto its relatively low cost. Amongthese are the fact that a constantangle along the edge of the band or strip will form a creping V ofconstant angularity across the face of the cylinder, which is notentirely true ofany flat plane knife. Again the strip or band in beingwrapped helically about the cylinder, assumes a configuration which, ifprojected upon a plane, would be sinusoidaL; but which, as it existsupon the surface of the cylinder, makes with-lines in that surfaceparallel to the axis of the roll substantially a constant angle 45degrees or otherwise, as may be desired. For-this reason paper creped onsuch' cylinder and knife will have a diagonal crepe which, as respectsthe web, is a straight rather than a sinusoidal crepe. Yet again, thebent knife offers features of adjustmentwhich are particularlyconvenient in use and obviate certain problems in connection withthesupporting of other kinds of knives. The holding of a knife down upon acreping surface by tension is also, I believe, a complete novelty.

I have illustrated in Figs. 12 and 13 a diagrammatic assembly of devicessuitable for the making of my product. I have shown a pair ofinterspaced cylinders 5| and 52 which are creping cylinders, and which,if desired, may be equipped with means for forming upon their surfaces afilm of thermoplastic substance for the creping step. A pressure orback-up roll 53 presses a web of paper 54 down upon the surface ofcylinder 5!, until it is removed by the helical knife 55, which iswrapped as shown, about the surface of the cylinder 5| at a desired'angularity to the axis of said cylinder. The web 54a will thus becreped and will be characterized by diagonal crinkles as shown. It maynext be led to cylinder 52 and pressed into contact with the surfacethereof by a pressure or 5 back-up roll 56. It is removed from thesurface of this cylinder by a helical knife 51, which, however, is at anangle to the axis of cylinder 52, but oppositely inclined as shown. Thusthe double-creped web 54b is formed with crossing sets of crepingcrinkles.

I have shown in Figs. 14 and 15 a view of the cylinder 5| with attendingmechanism. The cylinder is journaled in suitable bearings 58 upon ahousing or base 59. The back-up roll 53 may 5 likewise be adiustablyjournaled in supporting be held at the entering end by a bolt 6| held ina bracket-62 on the frame or housing. At

' its other end it. may be tensioned against a rod 63, or other suitablesupport, by a spring 64.

The direction of travel of the paper web 54 is as shown by the arrow inFig. 14. There will be a tendency in the paper, as it is pushed by thecylinder against the helical knife 55, to displace this knife inthedirection of the arrow.' The tendency will beleast at the entering endand will increase toward the leaving end, where the knife is lessable'to resist it due to its resilient 'come desirable to provide meansto resist the displacement of the helical knife or even to displace theknife in a direction opposite to the displacement tending to beproduced, by the paper and/or other factors. If the knife be displacedforwardly out of true helical shape, it will be tilted forwardly sothat-the back end of the knife will be raised slightly from the surfaceof the cylinder. This can be taken advantage of in reducing friction,since under these. conditions only the forward edge of the knife bearsagainst the cylinder, and in controlling the creping V, as willhereinafter be more fully set forth. It also effectively concentratesthe tensioning pressure of the knife against the forward edge thereofwhere it is needed. Finally, the lifting of the rearward side of theknife enables it to be engaged by supporting devices where this isdesirable. v

As one form of supporting device suitable to the practice of myinvention I have shown a chan- -nel beam 65, which may be eitherstraight or curved, supported by standards 66 and 51 on the frame orhousing, so that the channel follows the general direction, but notnecessarily the curvature of the helical knife 55. I next providecertain supporting means running between the beam and the knife. If thebeam should not sufficiently follow the curvature of the knife to permitthe adequate support thereof throughout its length, a curved beam or oneor more straight beams directed at different angles may be employed, aswill be obvious.- The supports may comprise any sort of expansiblecompression members interposed between the blade 55 and the support 65,or its equivalent. Preferably these members should be disposed behindthe knife insofar as is possible; but they may approach the knife atquite widely varying angles and still have the supporting effectdesired. I have thus shown members comprising a jaw 68 adapted to engagethe knife and a threaded member 59. A second threaded member In ishinged as at H to the beam 65.

A nut I2 with right and 1 left hand threads, engages the threadedmembers, whereby the effective length of the entire thrust orcompression device may be adjusted to suit requirements. The supportingmember 68 may be bifurcated as shown; and adapted to shape giving therequired stiffness.

knife maybe used, if desired, or devices which glave no adjustmentbutsimply abut the knife or ade.

' The normal disposition of the helical knife against the cylinder isshown in Fig. 16 in dotted lines. .When the knifeis displaced forwardly,as hereinabove indicated, instead of lying flat against the cylindricalsurface, it will tilt as shown in solid lines in Fig. 16. In general theangularity of the creping V (V in Fig. 16) may be amxed by grinding acertain desired angularity upon the front edge face 55a. of the knife.This angularity will be constant on the bar, strip, or blade as made,and will likewise be constant with reference to. the surface of thecylinder when the knife is wrapped helically thereabout. It will also beclear that a certain adjustment of angularity may be secured bydisplacing the knife 55 more or less forwardly as desired, therebytilting it to a greater or less extent.

Modifications may be made in my invention without departing from thespirit thereof. The mechanism may be widely varied to suit individualconditions, and the particular creping process employed to produce thecrinkles may diil'er in different operations, and also may change fromstage to stage in my process. Again,

the particular arrangement of parts is not inflexible. The individualparts may also be varied. As an example, but without limitation, I maysubstitute for the tables 34 and 44 of Figures 6 and 7, means beneaththe bands 28 and 38 to support the diagonal knives, which means travelwith said bands and are anti-frictional. (Such means may comprise, asshown in Figures 9 and 10, a series of relatively narrow supportingrollers l1 arranged in echelon, their upper edges contacting the bandsubstantially beneath the line of contact of the knife ll.

Again, as shown in Fig. 11, I may employ some form of traveling supportbeneath the belt 28. The advantages of traveling or moving supports overthe solid support 34, for example, of Figure '7, reside primarily in theelimination of friction. A 40 form of traveling support which may beemployed by me to good advantage may comprise a chainllke structure 48traveling over two or more supporting sprockets 48, and having a seriesof transverse members iii of channel shape, or other Over the horizontalpath of travel of these members, their upper flat surfaces are made tocome together to form a substantially solid supporting table for thebelt or band 28. Intermediate supporting 55 members Il may be employedbeneath the table, if required, and may comprise supporting rolls,rails, or other devices. In some instances the table itself may be usedas the creping surface.

In the claims which follow applicant intends 60 the terms crinkles" orcreping crinkles to be understood as covering and as limited to the typeof rugosities which are formed in a web by the process of crowding theweb back on itself, and as distinct from and not including corrugations,55 pleats, or folds otherwise produced in a web.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A multi-laterally stretchable web charac- 70 terized by a pluralityof sets of superposed substantially oppositely and diagonally arrangedcreping crinkles.

2. A multi-laterally stretchable web characterized by superposed sets orcreping crinkles so 75 arranged as to produce lines of normalstretchability substantially at degrees to the longitudinal axis of saidweb.

3. A composite product comprising a paper web having diagonally disposedgatherings therein and a backing, said backing having stretchability ina plurality of directions, said web and said backing being adhesivelyjoined together.

4. A composite product comprising a woven textile fabric having warp andwoof threads running substantially parallel with the lateral andlongitudinal axes thereof, adhesively joined to a creped webcharacterized by superposed substantially oppositely disposed diagonalsets of creping crinkles.

5. A composite product comprising a textile material of indefinitelength, having warp and woof threads substantially parallel to thelateral and longitudinal axes of said material, adhesively joined to amulti-laterally stretchable web of paper characterized by superposedsets of creping crinkles so arranged as to give lines of normalstretchability substantially coincident with the bias lines of saidmaterial.

6. A crepedweb characterized by a continuous set of creping crinklesdisposed at an angle to the minor axis of said web, said angle beingless than 90, said web joined to a backing substance.

'7. A web characterized by a series of creping crinkles lying at anangle to an axis of said web, said angle being less than 90.

8. A creped web characterized by a set of creping crinkles lying at anangle of substantially 45 to the longitudinal and lateral axes of saidweb.

9. A multi-laterally stretchable web characterized by a plurality ofcrossing sets of creping crinkles.

10. A multi-laterally stretchable web of paper characterized by aplurality of superposed and oppositely disposed sets of crinkles, eachset lying at an angle to an axis of said web, said angle being less than90 in each instance, said web having a continuous coating within andwithout the crinkles of a coating substance.

11. A multi-laterally stretchable web characterized by superposed setsof creping crinkles so arranged as to produce lines of normalstretchability substantially at 45 to the longitudinal axis of said web,said web having a continuous coating within and without the crinkles ofa waterproof substance.

12. A multi-laterally stretchable web characterized by superposed setsof creping crinkles so arranged as to produce lines of normalstretchability substantially at'45" to the longitudinal axis of saidweb, said web having a continuous coating within and without thecrinkles of an adhesive substance and joined thereby to a backingsubstance.

13. A composite product comprising a creped web characterized bysuperposed, substantially oppositely disposed diagonal sets of crepingcrinkles adhesively joined to a reinforcing structure of crossedstrands.

14. A creped paper product characterized by a set of creping crinklesrunning at an angle to the predominant grain direction of said paper,said angle being less than 90.

15. A composite product comprising a crinkled paper web characterized byuniversal stretchability cemented'to a backing material stretchable in aplurality of directions, said webs having coincident directions ofprimary stretchability.

16. A multi-laterally stretchable web characterized by a plurality ofsets of superposed subranged as to produce lines of normalstretchability substantially at 45 to the longitudinal axis of said web.

18. A multi-laterally stretchable web characterized by crossing sets ofgatherings, neither set of which is parallel with the minor axis of theweb.

19. A composite product comprising a gathered universally stretchableweb and a backing substance, saidv backing substance having majorstretchability in one onmore directions, and said web characterized byprimary stretchability normal to the lines of gatherings therein in thesame directions, said web and said substance being adhesively joinedtogether.

20. A crepecl web, stretchable in all directions and characterized by arelatively fine-grained surface texture which has substantially anidentical appearance as viewed from any angle.

21. A composite product comprising a paper web having diagonallydisposed gatherings therein adhesively joined to a reinforcing structureof crossed strands.

. WILIJAM- C. KEMP.

